The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lowell includes the renovation and addition to an existing outdated facility. Located within close proximity to downtown Lowell, the new club will include 65,000 sq ft of space. The new design makes a strong connection with the adjacent Clemente Park and the National Historic Park Canal Parkway.
LA LOFT
LOS ANGELES, CA
The 1,400-square-foot live-work environment for a creative professional is located in an existing warehouse in downtown Los Angeles. The design consists of distinct entities: the angular, faceted, stone-clad monolith and the free-flowing, organic, elliptical room. A dialogue emerges between them, allowing harmony and conflict to coexist. Technology is critical to the design in two ways: To control the environment The inhabitants are able to alter the mood via a central control station. Lighting, music, security, heating, air conditioning, and the display on the media wall are all programmed as part of the user interface. The multifunction media wall serves as an extension of the computer’s desktop, a screen for viewing films, and for gaming. It also functions as a virtual art gallery to display our client’s photography collection.
LOCATION
Los Angeles, CA
PROGRAM
Exhibition Gallery
SIZE
1,400 sq ft
STATUS
Completed 2006
CLIENT
Apple
COLLABORATORS
Gilsanz Murray Stefiicek, Structural
Kaplan Gahrig McCarrol Lighting
To design and fabricate the residence Forms were created via a computer model and fabricated using a CNC milling process. The raised floor is sheathed with a system of translucent honeycomb panels allowing the LED lighting system below to morph from color to color. Building materials were chosen for their ability to absorb or reflect the changing palette of light. The elevated flooring transforms into the lounge seating area and the desk of the workstation. In the spa area, stone steps rise to the platform base of the monolith. The raised deck houses an air tub, natural light, and stylized garden. A floating steel fireplace completes the relaxation zone. Undulating walls form a womb-like enclosure, demarcating the kitchen. The skin of the elliptical-shaped room tears away, revealing the bathroom. Walls are pierced with light-sensitive tiles. This is where the overhead cantilevered stone appendage penetrates the embryonic form. The two distinct elements complement, contrast, and violate one another as they coalesce.